Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rocky Mount gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $275K for a typical one, or 4 years of the Roanoke metro’s $69K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 184th of 249 in Virginia. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its police reported 5 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, and residents are less healthy than 76% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 80% of Virginia towns. 29% of working residents work locally in Rocky Mount, where Virginia’s towns sit at 4.8% and U.S. towns at 8%. Rocky Mount has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Washington Iron Furnace and Woods-Meade House.
Where Rocky Mount beats most towns.
Washington Iron Furnace
Census counts: 315 in 1880, 4,903 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 2013 and a map from 1965 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Rocky Mount is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rocky Mount, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Rocky Mount.
Rocky Mount pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and draws workers from Roanoke and beyond, but it has poverty well above the Virginia rate.
7,687 jobs are based in Rocky Mount, 3.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Rocky Mount’s working residents works in town. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Rocky Mount. Jobs based in Rocky Mount fell to 7,687 in 2023, 540 fewer than in 2013.
| Rocky Mount | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A− for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $275K.
Its public schools are run by the Franklin County Public Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,382 | B |
| Franklin County HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,880 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 28.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Virginia rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 315 to 148 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Rocky Mount’s property crime rate is 28.7 per 1,000 residents. Rocky Mount reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 89% report less. Rocky Mount’s violent crime rate is 1 per 1,000 residents.
| Rocky Mount | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 28.7 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
16% of Rocky Mount adults have diabetes. Rocky Mount beats the Virginia average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 42% of Rocky Mount adults have high blood pressure.
| Rocky Mount | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Rocky Mount | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.2% | 76.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.7% | 6.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 39% in five years, to about $275K, against 23% across Virginia. The median property tax bill is $1,018, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median rent in Rocky Mount is $890 a month. Typical home values rose 4.9% in the year to September 2026.
| Rocky Mount | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $890 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 56% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Rocky Mount has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 27° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2.0 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Grassy Hill Natural Area Preserve, at 62 acres.
| Rocky Mount | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grassy Hill Natural Area Preserve | 0.3 mi | 62 |
| 2. Mary Elizabeth Park | — | 4 |
| 3. Veterans Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rocky Mount. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi Park & preserveAppalachian Trail3.0M visitors a year
11 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
33 mi Stadium & arenaLane Stadium
19 mi LakeSmith Mountain Lake
30 mi LandmarkNational D-Day Memorial
19 mi MuseumVirginia Museum of TransportationAppalachian Trail: Paulba. Original uploader was Paulbalegend at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lane Stadium: User:B, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Smith Mountain Lake: Jay White, Public domain · National D-Day Memorial: RebelAt at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Virginia Museum of Transportation: Warfieldian, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Rocky Mount
About 2 of every 100 Rocky Mount residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Where Rocky Mount’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Rocky Mount on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Rocky Mount.
Town in Virginia, United States
Rocky Mount is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Virginia, United States. The town is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area, and had a population of 4,903 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the Roanoke Region of Virginia.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Rocky Mount.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Mount | #184 | C+ | B+ | D | A− | C− |
| Henry Fork | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Henry Fork isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Rocky Mount with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rocky Mount grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #184 of 249 in Virginia. It grades C− for health, D for safety and A− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
7 notable people were born here, including Jesse L. Martin and Dwaine Board.
